Thursday, September 4, 2014

My Morning Cup: Lounge Chair Lapsang Style!

Good Morning!!!

It's been a LONG time since my last post and let me tell you, it's been a doozy!

First off, before we jump into the crazy catch up/review the last 8+ months of my life, I want to thank a reader for reminding me of this blog's existence and requesting me to write more. It was actually a slight shock to find out that someone read this blog and it made me happy! (So, side-note: if YOU read this blog, post below! It would provide feedback as well as encourage the creation of many more cups of tea! LOL!)

So thank you, fair reader, and to all readers, thank you!

This morning's post is brought to you by a lovely cup of tea, Lounge Chair Lapsang. This tea is one of the only times I actually put something into my tea: milk. I'm usually a straight/black/water-and-tea-leaves-only type of guy, but this tea is just one of those soothing and gorgeous teas that just needs a little bit more to really push it over the edge. It's a black tea and one that I enjoy making in the early morning or late evening as it's just a smooth, soothing cup of tea. The lapsang in this tea is mellowed out by the cornflowers, caramel, and a slight fruity note that creates a creamy, smooth flavor that is comparable to the quiet, stoic, beauty of a cello playing "The Swan" by Camille Saint-Saëns while a slow mist falls over a gorgeous sylvan setting on a moody mountaintop morning. It's a truly stunning cup of tea and one that I would highly recommend!

Now onto the other bits and pieces that make up 8+ months of things and thoughts. I'm going to make this as short and sweet as a Josh story can be. (LOL!)

I've published 12 (yes 12!) patterns and designed X amount more. (I honestly have NO idea how many I've designed that aren't written yet. I believe last count put it at over 15... o.O That is a TON of design work and guess what? They all are knitted and just need to be written/tested... yep. I AM that crazy designer! ;)) That's 10 shawls and a pair of socks and a pair of fingerless mitts! So designing has been going crazy, needless to say. In fact, most of 2014 has been knitting my own designs, so expect MANY new pattern announcements in the future!

February brought the knitting Olympics and I, true to my over-achieving self, knit a colorwork sweater in 9 days due to my first sweater not working out. That was crazy. No joke. February also brought a new baby brother into my family and he's adorable!

Fast forward through March to April as nothing happened in March other than more designing and knitting. In April I went to the Yarn Over market here in MN. Yarn Over is an event hosted by the Knitting Guild and is an AWESOME event full of knitters local to me, vendors with STUNNING products, and amazing teachers. I've never had the opportunity to go to a class, (other than that time where... cough cough... someone smuggled me into a class... ;)) but the vendor market alone makes the event WORTH. IT. First off, you get to mingle with your people: knitters. Secondly, it makes a great event to meet your knitting friends at or make new ones. Thirdly, the yarn. HELLO?!?

Yarn Over is one of my favorite yarn events and I just can't wait to go again this coming year.

Moving onto June as May was uneventful, we come to the Zombie Knitpocalypse. This is a knitting retreat hosted by dear friends of mine here in MN and if you can, you SHOULD come! No joke, one of the BEST knitting retreats ever! I've been there for both years it's been running, and it is the BEST event in the summer for me! It's 4 days of knitting, good food, and yarn shopping as well as making a BUNCH of new friends and taking classes from the retreaters. It's like a massive knitting group that camps out in a conference hall for 4 days. I taught 2 classes and they were AWESOME! My students came prepared with questions and my nerves at teaching an actual class were so worth it. My class was VERY well received and I look forward to teaching another class sometime!

But before we move out of June, I left my job of 4 years to a new, MUCH better environment! My old job was utterly draining and the politics and nuances of that place still gives me nightmares. But my new job is MUCH better and even makes me excited to go to work. (If one can actually be actually happy/excited to go to work! ;) )

Shooting forward into July/August, I have been working on the first book/collection of geoknittrix shawls. The entire shawl collection is based off of William Shakespeare's tragedies and I LOVE the shawls in this collection! Two shawls to go and they are two of my favorites from the collection!

And that's that!

My cup of tea is almost done and before I leave, I leave you with this thought: Waking up to Ariana Grande's albums makes one incredibly happy and ready to face the day. Especially when you wake up to a classic "Piano" that has serenaded you throughout the dream world last night!

Cheers to you, readers, and I raise the dregs of tea leaves in my cup to you!

2 comments:

Well, you have been a busy boy!!! I LOVE the description of the tea, and will have to order some!Also, I cannot wait till your shawl collection is available, as I WILL be buying it!!!! Glad you're writing again! Love you, my friend!!

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About Me

is the brains and brawn behind geoknittrix designs. Josh designs patterns and puts them up on Ravelry for all of you curious folks out there!
Josh is an avid knitter with a passion for Stephen West's designs and shawls! SHAWLSSS.....
He is currently living with the fact that his needles can only go as fast as he can physically move them - not as fast as his brain thinks the needles should be moving.
Josh also deals with the perils of working a retail job while balancing his college endeavors.
This is his story.
He also has begun to host a videocast and the vidcast can be seen at www.swordofaknitter.com